Abstract [en]

Stress is a growing social problem which accounts for a third of all sick leave in Sweden. Many companies say they do not have methods to manage stress. Thus there is a great need for effective methods to manage stress with. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an effective method to reduce stress, however the mechanisms are not completely understood. Research indicates that Self-compassion seems to have a significant role. Both mindfulness and self-compassion hence seems to be able to have an impact on stress. The purpose of this study is to examine what relationship mindfulness and self-compassion has with perceived stress, and if any of the concepts has a stronger relationship to perceived stress than the other. Three validated self-report instruments, Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and Perceived Stress Scale-14 (PSS14), were administered to 203 university students. The collected data was analyzed with regression analysis. In line with expectations, mindfulness and self-compassion correlated. The results also indicated that both FFMQ and SCS can predict PSS-14 scores, and that scores on SCS could predict scores on PSS-14 to a greater extent than FFMQ could. Gender did also significantly predict scores on PSS-14, but it did not have any significant predictive value when SCS and FFMQ was included in the regression analysis. These findings suggests that self-compassion is an important part of managing stress and therefore might be a significant mechanism of action of MBSR and other coping strategies. More research is needed to further investigate causality, and the function of the various components of self-compassion on perceived stress.